Cultural Appreciation | Gallery for Black History Month

Vine Street is located near the center of Kansas City; however, it can also be found near the center of African American culture. Overlooked and often underappreciated both in KC and across the world, this culture has a rich and developed background that more people should know about.

To celebrate Black History Month, the Black Archives of Mid-America Kansas City put up a special art gallery named “Depictions: People, Places & Things” in collaboration with Ramona Davis, a local curator, to celebrate Kansas City’s upcoming black artists.

As you step into the building, you would be surprised to see that the gallery immediately begins to your right, before you even get past the front desk.

Sheron Smith’s lovely “Blue Room” starts off the series of works, depicting a blue street illuminated by a solitary moon, as if to resemble a cold and lonely night.

However, ironically, the Blue Room (a jazz bar) itself seems to be flowing with life, juxtaposing the cold dark night of the street with the warm colors coming out of the bar’s windows.

Smith’s collection continues with a more modern-styled painting depicting a series of diverse people standing together, looking over a mosh pit of rioters supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and other similar organizations advocating for social change. The painting epitomizes the oxymoron “alone together.” Prison like bars seperare each person looking out. Despite theirseparation, they have all chosen to stand side-by-side, hand in hand, ready to fight for their rights.

Finally entering the gallery, eyes are drawn to a pink quilt-like piece of art. As you approach, you recognize a great deal of the women stitched into the front. Nedra Bonds in her piece “Talking to White Girls” emphasizes the immense credit that white women have received for their societal movements, whether they are sex idols such as Betty Boop or political figures such as Hillary Clinton.

An African-American woman is drawn as the center of the work with the words “There Is A Black Woman Behind This” above her. With so many African-Americans overlooked in social history, Bonds created a moving piece requesting recognition for the African-American women that have contributed to the development of society.

The words “You is smart, you is kind, you is important” are also inscribed within the piece, referencing the famous literary work ‘The Help” in which white women hand off their children to African-American women to raise them, a parallel to the theme of the piece.

The final piece of the gallery will leave you stunned. The colorful paint strokes bring together a spectacular piece, all centered around the pure white flower crown that sits upon a young boy’s head.

Warren “Stylez” Harvey in Love is the Answer crowns the boy with innocence and youth, cancelling out all of the possible hate that exists in the boy’s world and concludes the gallery with the idea that, despite not getting the recognition African American’s deserved in the past, love and forgiveness can conquer all to create a more accepting future.

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor, whether submitted electronically or by mail, should be 350 words or less and must include writer’s phone number for verification. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters may be edited for clarity or space. If you wish to send a Letter to the Editor, please do so here.
For inaccuracies in the paper or concerns about the paper, please contact the Editor-in-Chief

About U-News

The University News is published on Tuesdays by students of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
4,000 free copies are distributed to the University, Plaza, Westport, Brookside, Midtown and Downtown areas. The University News has served the UMKC community since 1933.
Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University or staff.
We are located at 5327 Holmes St., Kansas City, MO 64110.U-News is an equal opportunity employer.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are available for the cost of postage, $25 a year.
The first copy of the University News is free. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 each, payable at the University News office in advance. No person may, without prior written permission of the University News, take more than one copy of each week’s issue.